Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 19, 2012

16

LEFT TURN/RIGHT TURN

 Mountain Views News Saturday, May 19, 2012 

HOWARD Hays As I See It


A TALE OF TWO STATES

“AIDS is not just God’s punishment 
for homosexuals; AIDS is God’s 
punishment for the society that tolerates 
homosexuals.” - Jerry Falwell, 
founder of Liberty University

 “Jerry deserves the tribute he would 
have treasured most, as a cheerful, 
confident champion for Christ.” - 
Mitt Romney, in his commencement 
address at Liberty University

 “I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right 
in the ass.” 

- Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) (Watergate figure 
John Dean maintains Goldwater actually used the 
term “nuts”, but the target was changed in media 
accounts.)

Just a couple weeks ago, Republicans were back in 
the 1960s, revisiting the issue of women’s access 
to contraception (insisting the matter be left up 
to the woman’s employer).

Now they’re up to the 1980s, when a major issue 
was the “Religious Right” and its efforts to legislate 
biblically-justified bigotry.

 In his address, Romney assured his audience he 
believes “Marriage is a relationship between one 
man and one woman”. Not surprisingly, the line 
received applause at a campus which bans admission 
to the openly-gay, where many had reservations 
about inviting an openly-Mormon.

Also not surprisingly, there was some eye-rolling 
among young Republican and gay Republican 
groups; dismay that their candidate hasn’t caught 
on that a viable issue from 1984 could make them 
losers in 2012. Before most in that college crowd 
had entered pre-school, the Moral Majority had 
already become embarrassingly passé.

Reince Priebus, Chairman of the National Republican 
Party, suggested that Romney’s position 
on gay marriage was “in line with most Americans”. 
The facts, though, and nervous Republican 
operatives, suggest otherwise:

A Gallup poll from 1996 showed 27% in favor of 
gay marriage, and 68% opposed. Last month the 
results were 50% in favor, and 48% opposed. Pew 
Research in 2001 found 35% in favor of gay marriage 
and 57% opposed; now it’s 47% in favor and 
43% opposed. The Wall Street Journal / NBC poll 
showed 41% in favor of gay marriage and 49% 
opposed in 2009, with 49% in favor and 40% opposed 
last March.

Republicans charge that President Obama’s 
voicing support for marriage equality is “political”; 
meaning they’re concerned he’s endorsing 
a position supported by a growing majority of 
Americans. (Recently on the Bill Maher show, a 
panelist characterized Obama’s marking the anniversary 
of the killing of Osama bin Laden as 
“political”; Ed Schultz shot back; “How terrible 
- a president campaigning for re-election on his 
accomplishments!”)

Some, including colleague Greg Welborn, continue 
to warn of the “slippery slope”; if gay marriage 
is allowed, then “why shouldn’t three people”, or 
“a brother and sister marry?”

Gay marriage has been legal in Massachusetts 
for eight years, in Connecticut for four, Iowa and 
Vermont for three, New Hampshire for two and 
in New York since last summer. In none of those 
states has there been a push for polygamy or marriage 
among siblings. Nor, as Greg warned, have 
there been complaints from straight couples that 
their own marriages have been “weakened” as a 
result.

Greg argues that “traditional marriage is better 
for children”. My own research shows that individuals 
who are loving, caring, and involved 
make good parents. Those who aren’t, don’t.

 As for “tampering” with “marriage as it has been 
defined by all major religions and cultures for 
more than 2,000 years”, I heartily support the 
“tampering”.

Polygamy was the norm in the Old Testament. 
King David had eight wives; his son Solomon 
boasted 700 wives and 300 concubines. The Law 
of Moses describes how to prepare a captured virgin 
for life as a concubine (shave her head, trim 
her nails, give her a month before going at it). 
The Book of Deuteronomy describes how a raped 
girl can be sold to her rapist for 50 shekels, who 
must then keep her as his wife.

 In ancient Greece, the daughter of a father who 
died leaving no male heirs was obliged to marry 
the nearest male relative – and had to divorce her 
current husband to do it. In the Roman era, a girl 
of twelve was considered fit to marry.

 In the Middle Ages, marriages were arranged as 
early as birth in treaties between royal families 
and fiefdoms. Chattel marriages were common 
in the 18th century – where wives who couldn’t 
afford large dowries became the property of their 
husbands. The saying was it was similar to slavery, 
but with fewer legal restrictions against violence 
inflicted by the master.

There was “tampering” with “traditional” marriage 
in late-1800s America, when wives were 
allowed to be individuals distinct from their husbands 
and hold assets on their own through the 
Married Women’s Property Act of 1884. It was 
around this time they were first permitted to seek 
protection from local authorities against spousal 
abuse and, through the Guardianship of Infants 
Act of 1886, were allowed for the first time to 
seek sole custody of their children if their husband 
died.

Anti-miscegenation laws were with us until a 
1967 Supreme Court ruling nullified them in 
the 16 states where they were still in force. What 
was “traditional” depended upon the state. In 
Alabama and Arkansas, the marriage was okay 
as long as it wasn’t between whites and blacks. 
In Mississippi and Missouri, marriages between 
whites and Asians were illegal, as well. In the 
Carolinas, whites couldn’t marry Native Americans. 
In Georgia and Virginia, the partnering of 
a white person with any other race constituted illegal 
“tampering” with “traditional marriage”.

There’s something wonderfully historic about our 
nation’s first black president wanting to further 
expand equality, in this case as it pertains to marriage. 
At the same time, Mitt Romney supports a 
Constitutional Amendment to restrict marriage 
to what he himself deems appropriate.

 The economy has recovered all private sector 
jobs lost since Obama became president. As a 
percentage of GDP, federal spending, taxes and 
the deficit are all lower than when he took office.

 Republicans are going to have a tough time coming 
up with a winning message for November. 
Evoking the bigotry of Jerry Falwell isn’t it.

 
It’s not often the real world gives us a crystal 
clear comparison of competing public policy 
options, but that’s exactly what we have in the 
comparison of California and New Jersey, and 
the very different policy options their respective 
governors have pursued.

 To set the background a bit, New Jersey 
presented Governor Chris Christie with a $10.7 
billion deficit for 2010. That deficit represented 
about 33% of projected revenues. California 
handed Governor Jerry Brown a $9.2 billion 
deficit on $89 billion in revenues, representing 
a substantially smaller 11%. Faced with an 
ocean of red ink, the two governors gave similar 
inauguration speeches but pursued diametrically 
opposed policy proscriptions. As will be clear in 
a moment, the bottom line is that we should all 
move to New Jersey. 

 Governor Christie told voters that the state 
would have to make tough choices. Then 
Mr. Christie, a Republican, convinced his 
Democratic legislature to reduce expenditures, 
require public union workers to contribute 
about the same percentage that private workers 
do to pay for some of their medical and pension 
benefits, reduced strangling regulation, and 
vetoed the legislature’s millionaire’s tax.

 The net result is that Christie closed the budget 
gap without raising taxes and is now proposing 
to reduce taxes 10% across the board.

 Governor Brown also told his voters that tough 
choices would have to be made. From there, Mr. 
Brown, a Democrat with a Democratic legislature, 
failed to significantly reduce spending, failed 
to reduce health and pension costs for public 
employee unions, allowed regulations to cripple 
even more businesses, agreed to spend billions 
more on the high-speed bullet train, and he’s 
now promoting a ballot initiative to raise income 
taxes 30% on those making more than $250,000 
(somehow those are the millionaires).

 The net result of our Governor’s approach 
is that the projected budget deficit has almost 
doubled from $9.2 billion to $16 billion, and 
there’s no relief in sight.

 Why?, is the question that comes to mind. Why 
did the state with a 33% budget deficit succeed 
while the state with an 11% budget deficit sink 
further into the ocean of red? Technically the 
answer is that revenues decreased substantially. 
More enlightening is the fact that businesses and 
high income earners have choices of where they 
conduct business and where they live. As they 
move out (and that’s what 
they’re doing in droves), 
all their tax payments go 
with them. So instead 
of even staying even, all 
the regulatory increases 
and rich-bashing have 
decreased revenues.

 It’s so terribly sad, 
because it could have 
been avoided. If California had just received the 
revenue increases that other states received, we 
would almost be back in the black. Nationally, 
state tax revenues increased 8.9% last year, and 
they increased by some 10% in many of the states 
with the lowest tax burden, such as Texas. Art 
Laffer, my friend and former teacher, taught us 
all that the wealthy have flexibility as to when 
and where they earn their money. If we threaten 
to tax them too much, they simply move, and 
when they do, they take with them the jobs their 
companies provide.

 Let me close, though, with another sobering 
fact – one that Jerry Brown hasn’t told you. Even 
if the proposed millionaire’s tax didn’t drive 
the wealthy out of California, the increase in 
revenues that Mr. Brown promises won’t cut 
the state’s deficit. Unless the public employee 
pension formulas are changed – and that has 
not been proposed by Mr. Brown – the promised 
revenues would simply go towards paying some 
of the $68 billion in unfunded pension liabilities. 
The deficit would remain.

 The state of California is broke and getting 
worse because the governor and the legislature 
have refused to make the hard choices they 
promised. What’s ironic is that the choices 
are hard only politically, but not economically. 
Economically, adjusting the retirement age, 
increasing employee insurance contributions, 
and reducing taxes/ regulations would fix 
the deficit in a couple of years. Politically, the 
Democrats don’t dare cross the public employee 
unions. Who’d a thought New Jersey would 
start to look more like the golden state than 
California?

About the author: Gregory J. Welborn is a freelance 
writer and has spoken to several civic and religious 
organizations on cultural and moral issues. He lives 
in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 3 children 
and is active in the community. He can be reached at 
gregwelborn@earthlink.net.

A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, 
wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we 
buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, 
but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but 
less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, 
stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. 

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and 
hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've 
been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. 
We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We 
write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. 
We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate 
less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and 
shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken 
homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, 
overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is 
much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring 
this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon 
will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give 
with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. An embrace 
will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

 George Carlin


NEW CALIFORNIA CONGRESSIONAL, STATE ASSEMBLY & SENATE DISTRICTS


District 21District 23District 29District 26District 32District 22District 20District 18District 31District 35District 37District 30District 24District 16District 25Angeles Natl ForestAngeles National ForrestMount San AntonioUplandGlendoraSan DimasMonroviaClaremontDuarteAltadenaLa VerneLa Cañada FlintridgeSan MarinoSierra MadreLa Crescenta-MontroseEast PasadenaGlendaleBurbankPasadenaI- 10I- 5I- 210State Rte 2Angeles Crest HwyVentura FwyFoothill BlvdCo Hwy N4I- 5California State Senate District 25Created From CRC Certified Map: crc_20110815_senate_certified_statewide.zipSHA-1: 14cd4e126ddc5bdce946f67376574918f3082d6b
¯01234MilesNMap created by Healthy City, a project of the Advancement Project, August 2011. Created from CRC Certied Map: 
crc_20110815_senate_certied_statewide.zip SHA-1: 14cd4e126ddc5bdce946f67376574918f3082d6b. Basemap 
from US Census Bureau TIGER/Line Shapeles.